(Chapter Eightteen)
(Turdas 9th) (With Astrid)
Astrid was out training on the outskirts of the woods like she usually does but she's a little bit closer to the village then further into the woods. She's keeping here distance from the camp that Draco's supposably staying at but she's never actually gone to see where it is.
Right now she's trying out a replacement axe until her's is done being repaired, so far it wasn't too bad for her liking but it's missing the same fell as her older one. Whenever she threw it it felt off balance but when she looked it over after a couple of throws she couldn't find what was causing her too feel like that. It's maybe because it's not 'her' axe and just a replacement.
She's been at this for about an hour now and from how the looks of the targeted trees she's been throwing it really hard as if she's trying to cut it down like that but doing that she wore herself out and stopped her training for the day. Calling it a day she turns and heads back towards the village but when she heard what sounded like a roar in the distance she quickly turned around battle ready, axe in hand.
She stood there for a little bit scanning the woods but didn't see or hear anything. Calming down she puts her axe away placing it on her back but still kept scanning the woods just one more time "What was that? It wasn't something I've heard before"
Seeing that nothing was going to happen she turns away and sprinted towards the village heading for the arena for her class that's finally back in session, for now.
Upon entering the village she could see that people were slowly waking up leaving their homes to go do what they have plans to do which she suspects that it's repairing whatever is left to repair. She would jump in and help but since she has class in an hour she can't so she kept walking.
"Morning Astrid" she turns too see that it was Stoick that greeted her.
"Morning chief, doing your rounds for the day?" he nods his head.
"Yes, I am but I've heard that your class is back in session, how do you feel about that especially with everything that's been happening?" he asks walking beside her.
"Honestly I don't know how I feel about it, it's kind of scary I guess is the closes I can think of, but I'm determined to get them trained so that they could defend themselves on their own as well protect Berk from those demons" She explains not really sure if that's the answer Stoick was looking for but it was all she could think of.
"I agree, it is scary but that's how it's been for three hundred generations and still going, honestly I'm afraid that this war will never end" Astrid would've tried to say something positive but she can't lie to her chief.
"Sir, I believe that the war will end but not in the way that we want it" she says with a sad tone.
"I believe so, but that doesn't mean we're going to lay down and let them win, we'll give one hel of a fight before they take us all" he said cheerfully but you can still hear the worry in his tone.
Astrid nods smiling "That's right" the two came to a stop at the split path that leads up to the arena and the bridge, they could already hear the kids at the arena.
"It's been nice talking to you sir" she says sprinting for arena. Stoick smiles and nods his head even though she didn't see it but did anyways for what reason he doesn't even know.
When Astrid reached the arena she was greeted by some very excited kids running right for her. She couldn't help but smile seeing how excited they were and that made her happy. The kids surrounded Astrid talking over one another making no since on what they're talking about.
Astrid spoke up quiting the kids "Ok, ok clam down, I see that all of you are excited to be hear"
"Why wouldn't we be, we haven't been here for how many days now? Also we've been hyped ever since we saw how everyone was fighting those dragons" this worried Astrid.
"Were you kids outside during that?" she asks.
"No, well, not totally, we were looking out from the Great Hall but were we still safe" Astrid relaxes a little.
"Well, at least you were safe but next time stay inside, completely" the kids nod.
She smiles "Ok, now that all of you are here I'm going to have all of you make teams of two, you'll also need to grab…" "Astrid!" Astrid was cut off when she heard Ruffnut's voice coming from above her.
Astrid and the children all look up to see that it wasn't just Ruffnut but Tuffnut and Fishlegs as well. She looks at the kids and tells them too hold on a second and just practice swinging while she deals with these three.
She walks over to the wall where the three were standing above and calls out "What is it?" she asks wondering why her friends were interrupting her class.
"Hey don't get pissed at us, I was just told to come tell you that we're having a town meeting later this afternoon, also Snotlout said that he wants us to meet him in the middle of town later" one of her brows rose in confusen.
"Is he about to do something stupid?" Ruffnut shrugs her shoulders.
"Who knows, this is Snotlout we're talking about so if it is stupid you know just a much as we do is that he'll get himself hurt or something"
"Yea, I agree, whenever it comes too Snotlout, whatever kind of trouble he tries to cause always backsfire just like his flirting with you" Tuffnut chuckled.
"Dude, I think that was the first time you actually said something funny, it was pretty good" Fishlegs rolls his eyes.
"Whatever it is I'm not wanting any part of it, I have stuff to do later today" Astrid says walking away back to the children.
"What got her all moody?" Tuffnut whispers.
"I don't know but this is typical Astrid behavior I guess" Ruffnut couldn't be any more right.
"We should get going before she yells at us again" Fishlegs says not wanting to stay any longer so that she can yell at them again.
"Yea, you're right, lets go guys" Ruffnut took the lead, leading the two guys away from the arena heading back to the village.
Astrid was watching them leave and once she couldn't see them anymore she spoke up gaining the childrens attention "Alright, now as I was saying before you will need to have a sword and shield as well, once you got those get into groups of two then we'll continue from there"
The kids took off towards the weapon and shield racks grabbing what they wanted to use. After a minute or so the kids all come back to the middle grabbing their partner which luckily it was evened out. But that means one of them is missing.
"Where's Freydis?" she asks looking around the arena.
"Oh, she was sick and was told to stay home"
"Well, I guess I'll have to catch her up with the rest some other time but for now, you guys will be practicing defense" the kids groaned. This confused Astrid.
"What's wrong?" she asks.
"We were kind of hoping to be trained like how useless is" this shocked Astrid hearing that nickname.
"What do you mean 'train like how he is'?"
"We mean that why don't we do something like what he's gone through" one of the others jumps in adding onto the sentence "Like running around the edge of the arena with our gear on for hours"
"How would you guys know he does stuff like that?" she asks curious.
"Because we watched a couple of sessions, at first we were going to ask if we could watch up close but we thought that since it was usless it would've been safer to watch from the stands, it seemed that Draco didn't see us though" one of the boys explained.
"What else does he do durning the sessions?"
"Well, we've only seen two of them and the other one we saw was useless trying to hit Draco but he kept blocking or just stepping out of the way then knocked him down, then he would tell useless to get up and try again"
"How is that suppose to help?" the kids shrug their shoulders.
"Well, the only thing I could think of is the whole running around part since that would help with stamina but we've done that before"
"Yea but not with our stuff, also we saw useless keep adding more stuff onto him whenever Draco would tell him too"
She looks at all of the kids and saw that they were all wanting to try that "Well, if you guys really want to try that then go over to the wall and get ready to start running but before we start how long did he make him run?"
"Um… about a couple of hours but we only stayed for about three hours"
"Well, um… well how long do you guys want to try?" he asks the kids wanting to know what they have in mind.
"I think an hour or two, we could pull that off right?" the other kids nods their heads.
"Then I guess we're goingto do it for an hour and thirty minutes, will that be alright?" the kids nod their heads again.
"Good, then get ready and when I cound to three start running" the kids run off too the wall and got into running positions.
"Ok, 1… 2… 3... GO!" the kids take off running around the arena up against the wall.
She couldn't help but think that this might not be a bad thing to teach them from now on since this is a little be more of a challenge then just running around not carrying anything on them to weigh them down .
Maybe next time she'll have to see one of his sessions too see if she could use any of his training sessions in hers but she'll have to get permission first even though he won't be staying long. Just thinking about that hurt her for some reason 'Why is it hurting so much?' she wondered.
(Time Skip)
An hour and thirty minutes have passed and the kids were tired out from the constant running and the equipment that they had didn't make it any less tiresome. After Astrid stopped them the kids dropped too the floor catching their breaths and letting their aching bodies rest.
"So, how do you kids feel about running with equipment?" she asks with a smile.
The kids look up at her breathless only one of them was able to speak "It was… tiring but it… was new at least… maybe we could do it not… so long… next time" Astrid couldn't help but let out a chuckle.
"That sounds like a good idea, and from how tired you guys look I guess we'll call it a day, so once you guys are able to stand again make sure you return back to the village ok?" the kids nods their heads.
Calling it a day Astrid leaves the kids too rest up while she goes on ahead back to the village. As she walked towards the entrance she saw someone at the corner of her eye, when she looked she saw that it was Hiccup waiting in the stands with what looks to be a strange looking weapon.
'What kind of weapon is that?' she wondered.
When she couldn't see him in the corner of her eye anymore she couldn't help but shake her head at how disappointing of a viking he is but for some reason Draco's willing to train him. He may say that he's doing it to waist time but she still doesn't believe it's just that.
Leaving the arena she then heard a voice that she wasn't expecting to hear today. It was Draco's voice and from the sound of it he's still hurting.
"You brought it I see, I'll admit, it's been a while since I've seen someone with a weapon like this" she heard him say. She was standing at the entrance of the arena listening in on their conversation.
"Yea, some trader came by a couple of months back and saw her carrying a weapon just like it, if I recall she called it a…" he went quite.
She stepped back a little bit but that didn't seem to change anything because she then heard him call her name "Astrid, I know you're there, you best come on out"
She did as he said and came out reviealing herself. When her eyes landed on him she could see that he still had a cast holding his arm up but he had his armor on so he couldn't be in that much pain as he was yesterday.
"Hey, are you listening?" she shakes her head coming back to reality.
"Did you say something?" she asks trying to make it seem like she just didn't listen to what he said.
"I said are you done with your class?" he asks clearly not in the mood like always.
"Yes, they're just resting since I had them run around the arena while holding their gear" he looks at her with a questioning eyebrow.
"Why would you do that to a bunch of kids, that's a strain on a kids body especially someone of their size?"
"They wanted to because they saw you making 'him' do that and they thought it would be a challenge so I let them do it but for only an hour and thirty minutes" she explains.
"Why am I not surprised, I had a feeling they would want to do something that I would have him do, so, how did they do?" he asks curious about the results.
"They're tired and out of breath but they would like to do it again but next time not as long"
"That wasn't what I asked" he stated.
"They did good, is that a better answer?" she snaps, he nods his head.
"For a bunch of kids, if they did good at something like that at a young age then that's a good thing, that means they have a decent amount of stamina" he began to walk in her direction but she knew it was because she was near the entrance of the arena.
"Come on Hiccup, we're going to try out that new weapon of yours and Astrid, your friend Ruffnut is looking for you, she's at the forge" she thanked him while he walked past her entering the arena with Hiccup not far behind him.
She stayed for a little bit once they were in the arena listening to the sounds of the kids getting all excited to see him and he sounded a little nicer then he was when they were talking. She wonders why is he still so mad at her.
She turns away heading for the village to go meet up with Ruffnut which he said that was waiting at the forge for her. She could take a guess what it's about but this is Ruffnut she's talking about so it could be a number of things.
Not long after leaving the arena she was already entering the village at first she didn't know how but then she realized that she was speed walking for some reason as if she was wanting to get away.
Entering the plaza she looked for the forge and when her eyes landed on it she saw Ruffnut waiting for her near the window with Tuffnut and Fishlegs with her like they were before. Walking over to them she greeted her friends "Hey guys"
The trio greeted her back "Hey Astrid, I see Draco gave you my message" she nods her head.
"So, what did you need me for?"
"Well, remember how I said about how Snotlout was going to do something right?" she nods "Yes, but I don't want anything to do with it since it's probably something stupid"
"It is, I can say that but he said that you might want to "watch" this, whatever he means by that but whatever it is, it's stupid"
"That's why I don't want any part of it"
"Yea I know, we heard you the first time but think about it like this, we're not part of it, we're just going to be there too watch, it should be fun" Ruffnut explains.
"Then I guess it should be fine"
"I think I have a theory of what it could be" Fishlegs speaks up.
"What do you think it is then?"
"Well, if I have to take a guess it could be what we were talking about yesterday, him challenging Draco but that's one idea another is that he'll try to ask Astrid to marry him in public but other then those two I can't think of anything else" Astrid rolled her eyes.
"If he does something like that in public I swear I'll…" she was cut off when she heard Gobber speak from within the forge.
"Aye lads and lasses, what are ya doing here?" he asks leaning on the counter.
"We're just meeting up so we could watch whatever Snotlout plans to do" Gobber was confused.
"What do ya mean? Is he planning on doin' somethin'?" they shrugged.
"Possibly, this is Snotlout we're talking about" Gobber couldn't help but agree.
"True, so when is 'e suppose to do this?" they shrugged again "Don't know but it should be soon, or at least that's what he said" Ruffnut explains.
"That lad is going to be the death of Berk" he whispers going further into the forge. The four couldn't really say anything even though they believe what Gobber just said. He is going to be the death of Berk and that's frighting.
"What should we do while we wait?" Tuffnut asks bored out of his mind.
"We could go watch Draco train useless?" Ruffnut suggested.
"I was just there and from how he looks I highly doubt it's going to be anything interesting" Astrids comments.
"Then how about we go meet up with the other girls?" Astrid shakes her head and says "That's not a bad idea but yesterday they said that they would be busy today with chores" Ruffnut groans.
"Then you come up with something then"
"You know, I've noticed that ever since we've gotten older it's become harder to find things to do our age" Fishlegs comments.
"Maybe for you but for us it hasn't changed" Tuffnut gestures to both him and his sister.
"Yea that's because you guys somehow always think of someone to prank no matter how many times you've pranked them"
"And it's still fun" Tuffnut adds.
"For you it is, it's boring for us but if we "have" to do something then I would take to go watch Draco training useless then standing around for knows how long" that's the only thing she could think of at the moment.
"At least we have something but I have something to do so I'll see you guys later" Fishlegs leaves the trio to go off to do whatever he has to do.
"Well I guess it's just us" Ruffnut stats taking the lead.
Astrid and Tuffnut followed closely behind her as they make their way to the arena. For the second time for Astrid but she did want to see a session for once but with the state he's in she doesn't know if it'll be worth to watch.
Upon reaching the arena they could already hear metal hitting one another as if there was a fight going on in the arena. They also saw that the kids were still here but they were watching whatever it was that was going on.
"You kids are still here?" the kids turn to see that Astrid has returned with Ruffnut and Tuffnut.
"Yes, we wanted to watch so we asked and he said that it was ok for us to stay but we have to stay up here, what are you doing back here?" the youngest asks.
Astrid, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut sat down behind the children "We're here to watch as well, there's nothing to do so we thought it would help waist time" Astrid answers.
"Damn" Ruffnut whispers. Astrid turned to her confused "What?"
Ruffnut points at the arena. When Astrid looked down into the arena she saw that Hiccup was attacking Draco with all his got but Draco on the other hand was blocking or dodging with no problem even with the states he's in but she can see that it's hurting him.
"That guy doesn't know when to drop does he?" Tuffnut questions.
"No, he's just stubburn" Astrid says.
Everyone that was watching were quite impress to see someone in such a bad state like how he is, is still doing things that he normally would do, training for example. Even though they could see that he's hurting but he's not going to stop. A normal person would at least try to rest for a couple of days but him, he got up and went back to doing his daily things the day after he got hurt.
"I guess this will be interesting" Astrid whispers.
(Time Skip)
A whole two hours have past and Hiccup has finally given up on trying to hit him even though he's came real close to doing so a couple of times but still was blocked and knocked down which was surprisingly. They honestly didn't think he would try to fight back with how he's hurting.
"Are we sure he's human?" Tuffnut joked but was serious at the same time. Ruffnut and Astrid shrugged their shoulders not sure how to answer that.
They watched Draco speak to Hiccup about something which he nodded too they couldn't hear any of it though. After he was done talking to Hiccup about whatever it was he makes his way to the exit but looked up to the stands looking in their direction.
"He doesn't seem to keen to see us here" Tuffnut states.
"Yea but hasn't he looked like that ever since he's got here?"
"Yes but not as bad as this" Astrid comments.
"What are you three doing here?" he asks from the entrance.
The trio and the children stand up and walk over to him "We were bored and decided that we would come by and watch some of your session and from we've seen it's not bad but honestly you're dumb to do such a thing in the state that you're in" Draco shoots a slight glare at Astrid.
"Are you my mother or something" he snaps going around the group wanting to go to the hall to get him something to eat before heading back too camp.
The trio and kids followed behind him but not too close not wanting to piss him off "May I ask you something?" Tuffnut calls out.
"Yes but that doesn't mean I'll answer"
"Are you human?" Ruffnut slapped his shoulder "Would you not ask such a stupid question, of course he is (looks at him) are you?"
"What makes you think I'm not?" he quickly asks clearly not amused.
"Well, lets see, one you…" Draco cuts him off "It was a rhetorical question, of course I am"
"Well that's all you had too say"
"Are you always this stupid?" Draco asks insulting the lad.
"Not all the time, just sometimes" Tuffnut says proudly.
"You know he wasn't actually wanting you to answer that right?" Astrid whispers.
"Well he could've just said don't answer or say that it was another rh- whatever it was" everyone including the kids rolls their eyes.
The group went silent as they reached the village but upon arrviving they saw a crowd in the middle of the plaza "What's going on?" Astrid questions.
"I guess this is when Snotlout is going to do something stupid" Ruffnut comments.
"Does he ever do anything smart?" Draco asks approaching the crowd which a couple of people saw them and moved out of their way which was strange too them. as they walked through the crowd that was splitting apart they heard whispers like "There he is" "What do you think's going to happen?" or "Were they together?" that one caught Astrid's attention more then anyone else since they were looking at her when she heard it.
Upon reaching the front Astrid could see everyone including her parents, the chief, Gobber, and everyone else that she knew all was all here and not surprised of who was standing in the middle was the one and only Snotlout. he stood there with his arms crossed and was glaring in their direction.
"Finally you showed up" Snotlout yells.
"What are you talking about?" Astrid yells back but he raises his hand "Not you, him" he points too Draco.
"Ok, what do you want then?" Draco snaps.
"I want to challenge you too a duel for Astrid's hand" everyone either gasped or made the "ooohhh" sound. Astrid on the other hand was blushing from embarresment or anger nobody could really tell but she didn't look happy so they're going to say that she's angry.
"What the hel Snotlout, why would you need to duel him for my hand, we're not even a thing" she yells at him.
Draco looks over towards the chief with a 'are you serious' look. Stoick sighed and that wasn't something Draco wanted to see or hear if he heard it.
"I don't have time for this" Draco spat walking back in the direction from where he came wanting to go around the crowd instead.
"Oh, I see, you're too chicken to fight aren't ya?" Snotlout was trying too taunt him but it didn't seem to work because Draco just kept walking.
That just made him mad and he could only think of one thing that would get to him "No wonder why you don't have a wife anymore, I bet she left due to how scared you are" everyone tensed up with a couple of people gasping. That was a low blow even for Snotlout.
Stoick was going to put a stop too this but Snotlout kept going "Yea, I heard your little conversation with Gobber and I wouldn't blame her, I wouldn't want to be with someone that is scared to fight like a man"
Stoick can sense that this is going to get out of hand real quick if he keeps going. He steps into the middle and begins to speak "Snotlout that's enough, you're going to far with this, you heard the lass so why don't you just take it as it is and leave the lad alone"
Snotlout had turned his back too Draco to speak to his uncle "What I'm just doing what it calls for when someone goes after another mans women" Astrid was going to say something but didn't when she saw Draco walk into the middle. When he walked past her she felt chills go down her spine.
"Yea but that doesn't mean that you can jus' call something like that out…" he goes quite looking behind Snotlout. Snotlout was going to turn but before he could get turned around all the way he was met with a punch in the cheek followed by a grab of the collar of his shirt and tossed too the ground.
"Fine, I'll take your damn challenge and I'll make you pay for what you've said you sack of shit, I'll make sure of it" everyone that heard him all had chills go down their spines feeling the hatred that Draco carried in that promise.
Snotlout on the other hand couldn't help but smile at the fact that he was able to get under his skin for once. Before Draco turned around to leave he adds something in a whispered tone "Tomorrow, at the arena and if you chicken out, I'll hunt you down"
Stoick was shocked too see this side of Draco, like yea anyone would be mad if their wife was brought up like that but this lad, it looks like he plans to kill Snotlout and anyone who brings it up.
Draco walked away from the chief and the idiot to go back to his camp since he wasn't hungry anymore. He wasn't able to get far though since the horns for invaders went off. Everyone turned to look out at the sea and saw a ship coming from the distance and it was flying different sails then the ones they've seen.
"Everyone get your weapons ready, we might have a fight on our hands!" Stoick orders the village. Everyone took off to grab their weapons and shields then made their way towards the docks. Draco on the other hand took a closer look at the flag and ship. The ship was big not too big but bigger than the viking's ships. The flag on the other hand flew a familiar symbol but it was hard to make out since the wind was blowing it away.
Upon getting closer he was able to see people on bored the ship. Three people stood at the front of the ship, taking a closer look he was able to recognize the three. He couldn't believe what he was seeing so he did as everyone else did and took off towards the docks but didn't grab a weapon, Stoick saw this so he followed.
'For someone so injured he can run' he thought trying his best to catch up with him.
Once at the docks Draco has already pushed his way through to the front and Stoick wasn't that far behind. When Stoick finally reached the front he looked at the lad and asked "What is it lad?"
"Tell everyone to put away their weapons" he whispers but Stoick didn't hear "What?" Draco then repeats a little louder this time "Tell them to put down their weapons"
At first Stoick didn't think it was a good idea but with how his tone has changed he did as he said and told everyone to put down their weapons "Everoyne! Put down your weapons!"
Not sure what was going on everyone did as they were told and lowered their weapons even though a couple of them kept them at the ready.
The ship finally reached the docks and was now slowly being pulled in by some of the Berkians but since the ship was big it took a little bit more hands to pull. Getting it as close as they could they tied the ship to the dock. The men who pulled it in backed up moving away just in case something was going to happen or people were to jump out.
But when a plank was slid off the side landing on the dock they felt a little bit at ease and since they're seeing the chief not go into a battle mode it calmed them a little more.
Minutes have past and no one has left the ship. Draco wondering what was going on he was about to walk over to get on the ship but out of the blue he heard something from above him. He quickly moved back just barely missing a blade to the head.
When he looked to see who's sword it belonged to he was surprised with another swing to the face. Moving back some more he once again barely didge the blade but this time he was tackled and this time he couldn't dodge.
When he landed on the floor he looked up at the person who had just tackled him. He was met with a women with ashen white hair, bright green eyes, pale skin and a scar over her left eye. She just smiled which he returned "Hello Ciri, it's been a while"
"Yes it has, and I see that you've gotten slower" Ciri jokes aware that he's hurt.
"Haha, funny now can you get off of me before they decide to attack you" he looks back at the Berkians who have put up arms but had confused looks on their faces.
"Sure, let me help you up" she gets off him and holds out a hand which he took. She pulls him up back onto his feet. This time he was met with a hug which again, he returned.
"It's nice to see you" he says.
"Right back at you, I'm not the only one though" she pulls away from the hug and turns back to the ship which he followed where she was looking. At the top of the plank he saw Geralt of Rivia and Triss. He never knew her last name though.
Geralt was wearing his usual leather attire with the two swords he always uses placed on his back but he was carrying a third sword this time which was wrapped up in a cloth. While Triss wore the same old clothing she wore the last time he saw her, the only thing different was that she was carrying a bag.
"Geralt, I see you haven't kicked the bucket yet" The two walk down the plank and over to Draco and Ciri "And I see you've almost kicked the bucket"
"Nah, just banged up, it'll take a lot more to take me down"
"Good, it would've been bad if I came all the way here with this and find out that you died on us" Geralt removes the wrapped sword from his back and hands it to Draco which he gladly took but Ciri took it instead to help him out.
"I see you brought what I asked" he unwraps the cloth while Ciri held it revealing a one handed, fined polished, silver blade with a black trim that wrapped the handle the sheath wasn't with it though "What happened to the…" Geralt removed it from his side.
"Oh, there it is" he took the sheath in his good hand attaching it to the side where it was free since his katana was on the other. Once attached he took the sword and sheathed it.
"Here's the other thing you asked for" Triss speaks up handing him the bag which if it is what he asked was a couple of pieces of his armor from back when he was in Temeria plus some ingredients for a remedie for Galaxy.
"Thank you, I'm glad you were able to make it"
"It was difficult at first since we had to find a ship but once we did it was smooth sailing" Ciri says.
"Even though we had to steal a ship too get here" Triss adds with her arms folded.
"What's their problem?" Geralt asked gesturing to the very confused vikings.
"Oh yea, I should introduce you to them I guess" he turns to look at the crowd that was behind him.
"Everyone, this is my friends from Temeria, Geralt, Triss, and Ciri (turns to the trio) this is the Berkians and the one up front is the chief, as you can see they're vikings"
"That's obvious" Ciri whispers.
Geralt takes a couple of steps forward until he was standing a couple of feet from Stoick "I must thank you for watching over him, he can get himself into some trouble" "Hey, I'm not the only one that get's myself into trouble"
"He's got a point Geralt, you do get into more trouble than he does" Triss adds. Geralt doesn't say anything staying quite.
"It seems like you hit a nerve Triss" Ciri whispers to her.
"Nah, he just won't admit that I'm right"
"You know me too well" Triss looks at Ciri "See"
Stoick couldn't help but watch as Draco and his friends joke amongst one another and not just too long ago he was seriously pissed but now he's all happy "It's nice too meet the friends of Draco" Ciri couldn't help but say "Oh, he finally speaks"
"Ciri" Triss whispers.
"What, they've been quite for a while now and just been staring at us the whole time, how would you feel if you were being stared at the whole time?" she questions Triss which didn't answer.
"Ciri" Geralt simply says. She goes quiet.
"Sorry about her, she means no harm, sometimes" Stoick could only nod not sure how to responed to that.
"Well, Ryder, mind showing us where we could get some food, we've been sailing for a week or so" Ciri says. Draco nods taking the lead but Stoick stops him and says "I'll show you guys to the hall, we we're about to go there before you arrived"
The trio looks at their friend which didn't say anything letting Stoick to take the lead. Draco, Ciri, Geralt, and Triss followed closely behind Stoick as they made their way through the crowd of people. While passing everyone they heard whipsers which wasn't anything they haven't heard before.
Standing next to Draco, Geralt whispers to him as low as possible "Where is he?" Draco knew who he was talking about. It was Galaxy.
"Cove, we'll go there later but right now I think it's best if I catch you guys up with a couple of things that I didn't put in the note"
"Is it anything we'll need to worry about?" Draco only nodded.
While Draco and Geralt talked Triss and Ciri had their own talk "Hey Triss, did you see that blonde girl back there? She didn't look so happy too see us" Ciri whispers.
Triss nods "Yes, I saw but it's something else, it's not that she's not happy that we're here but it's because she saw 'you' ontop of Draco" she explains.
"What do you mean? Are you saying that she's jealous? Wait, how can you tell?" Triss shooshed her to quiet.
"Would you be quiet, you're talking a little to loud, and yes, I'm sure and for how I can tell lets just say that it's womens intuition"
"Then how come I couldn't tell?" Ciri questions.
"Because you're not a normal women" Ciri acted offended "Neither are you"
"True but you also you got to remember what I am, it's not hard to read people" Triss whispers the last bit about what she is.
"Got me there, but why is she jealous, it's not like I was doing anything to him"
"She may not know that she's jealous"
"How is that possible?" Triss shrugs her shoulders "Don't know but from how she acted seeing you ontop of him she was clearly jealous"
"To you"
"Would you to be quiet before one of them hear you" Geralt whispered to the two girls. Ciri sticks her tounge out while Triss softly slaps Ciri on her lower back.
It became silent between the five of them while they walked the rest of the way to the hall. Upon reaching the hall they said their thanks to Stoick splitting off from him entering the hall. Stoick stayed outside waiting for them to enter.
When he couldn't see them he looked behind him and saw that Gobber has followed them "What do you think of them Gobber?"
"I'm not sure but from what we saw down at the docks, they're probably skilled warriors just like Draco, but since it was just the one lass it's hard to tell about the other two but the other ashen haired one seems to be a warrior just from how he looks as well the two swords 'e wore on 'is back" Gobber explains.
"You're saying that we now have more people like the lad, I would say that is great but something tells me that it's not due to what happened just minutes ago, I bet ya right now that he's telling them about it"
"If 'e does then 'e does but I don't think they'll do anything since it's the lads fight" Gobber says.
"Speaking of the lad, where's Snotlout, I need to have a word with him" Stoick scans the area seeing no sigh of his nephew.
"I don't know but I bet 'e's getting patched up from the hit 'e received from Draco"
"I should try to talk him out of this" he was only able to get a few steps in before Gobber stopped him "Stoick, even if ya tried that, I doubt 'e'll do it, this is Snotlout after all and I also doubt that Draco would let him run now"
Stoick sighed "Gods help us"
"Come on Stoick, it's noon and you have a meeting to discuss to everyone" Gobber says patting his friend on the back.
The two went up the rest of the steps entering the hall seeing that it was only a few couple of people which of course included Draco and the other three but they don't seem to have any interest in looking his way.
"Gobber, go get everyone" Gobber nods leaving the hall to spread the word.
Stoick on the other hand goes over to the table that sat next to the fire pit taking a seat with a thud. He sighed out of frustration 'That lad is going to be the death of me' he thought. He was talking about Snotlout causing him so much trouble that he won't have any control over it.
(Time Skip)
An hour has past and almost everyone was in the hall but during the time Stoick waited he over heard a little bit of the conversation that Draco was having with his comrades but not enough to know what they were talking about.
But after a while he stopped listening since people began to enter the hall. When he saw Gobber enter the hall he knew that everyone was here. Standing in front of everyone he speaks above everyone gaining their attention including Draco and his comrades.
"Settle down everyone! Settle down!" everyone's voice began to die down.
Once the room was all quiet Stoick spoke again "As you all know the dragons have taken out the towers that we were going to put the eels in but how they did it without them backing away, I don't know but that means they're getting smarter and we need to do something about it now or they're going to wipe us out, now I know you all don't want to hear this from me but we have to hunt down the nest and take it out" everyone groaned.
"Now, I know what you want to say but it's our only hope to stop them for good and if we don't we're as good as dead, now who's with me?" no one said anything only coughs could be heard. Stoick looks over to where Draco was sitting.
"Draco, what about you?"
Geralt, Triss, and Ciri had their eyes on him waiting to hear what he's going to say "Stoick, I gave you my answer before but I need to know one thing, what 'if' we take out this nest and the dragons continued to attack your village what would you do?" this time everyone was now looking at Stoick.
"If that what happens then we'll just have to keep fighting until either side loses" everyone seemed a little shocked but at the same time kind of expected for him to say something like that.
Draco looks at Triss, Ciri, then Geralt which he nods his head "Ok, but these three are coming along too"
"Have they fought dragons before?"
Ciri was about to say something but Triss quickly stopped her by putting a hand over her mouth. Draco spoke instead "Yes and even more"
"Then they can come, anyone else?" a couple more hands began to raise one of them being Astrid as well the twins and her parents.
"Ok, then everyone who's staying behind will watch over Hiccup" that's when everyone else rose their hands.
"Ok then, we'll go attack the nest within a week, meeting dismiss, oh and Draco I need to talk to you real quick" everyone began to leave the hall except for a couple of people.
Stoick made his way over to the table that Draco was sitting at. Once in ear reach he spoke "Draco, I need to talk to you about my nephew…" he wasn't able to finish because Draco spoke.
"Stoick, he brought my wife into this, so there's no way I'm backing out no matter what"
"Wait, you got married, to whom?" Ciri asks changing the subject.
"I'll explain later but right now, this is important" Draco says returning his attention back to Stoick.
"I know that Draco, I just wanted to ask if you know what you're fighting for?" Draco looked at him confused.
"Does it matter, he brought up my wife, is that enough for me to fight him?"
"Yes but if you win the Hofferson lass…" Draco cuts him off again "Stoick, I know, I'll win her 'hand' or whatever, I'll worry about that later but that won't stop me and that's final" Stoick can clearly see that he was set on fighting Snotlout.
Stoick nods his head seeing that he won't be able to change his mind so he decided to leave him be and go home for now, and probably for the day due to the headache he's gain from today.
When Stoick was out of earshot Ciri spoke "What was that about?"
"It'll take a bit to explain, but lets just say I have a fight tomorrow"
"We have time" Geralt comments leaning back.
"How far back do you want me to start?"
"Let's start with your wife" Ciri says.
"Ok, I guess we'll start with us meeting up back home…"
(A/N I would usually put a flashback in stories like this one since it goes back to his wife but due to how long it would take to write it, I decided to wait and see if you guys want the flashback, if you do then I'll write it and re-upload the chapter so that it'll be in it)
"… now we're here" he finishes the story.
The trio seemed surprised as well angry at the fact that Snotlout decided to bring up his wife "What do you plan to do?" Ciri asks.
"Beat him of course, even though I would do a lot more to him if it wasn't the fact that he's the next chief and that we're not on Skyrim or Termeria"
"Then you should make sure to break a couple of bones then, it won't kill him, probably" Geralt suggested with a smile.
"I plan to"
"We should probably get going" Ciri speaks up gesturing to outside.
The other three look at the door that was still slightly open due to the people leaving "It seems like everytime you tell a story, time just flies by, it's kind of scary if you think about it"
"If I recall you said that you've been staying in a cove of sorts while your 'ship' is being repaired" Draco nods.
"Yes so for now I'm stuck here but I do have something to ask of you three" the trio had all of their attention on him.
"Since I'm stuck here for I don't know how long but since winter is coming soon and Galaxy can't move I'll need a place too stay so I'm asking you if you could help me build this" he pulls out a piece of paper laying it on the table in front of them.
"You know it'll take a a week or so to build this?" Draco nods.
"And we're not going to be here that long since we're heading back to look for the rest if any of them are on Tameria" Triss adds.
"I know but I just need help with the first part of the house, the rest I'll do on my own"
"Then we should get started" Geralt says being the first to stand up.
None of them disagreed knowing they'll be able to use most of their 'tricks' while everyone is asleep. Not wanting to wait everyone follows Geralts lead and leave the table but Draco quickly went back grabbing the paper he almost forgot placing it back in his bag.
Stoick and Gobber watched the four leave the hall. When the door closed Gobber was the first to speak "I 'ave to say, that lads friends are interesting, is the word I could use" Stoick nods.
"They are but from what I understand, at least as much as I've heard, they're not the ones that he's looking for, they're just here to 'elp 'im finding these friends of his"
"Did ya see what the ashened hair one gave him, I've never seen a sword like that"
"I did and I got a close look at it too, it was very well crafted probably better then most weapons I've seen, I wouldn't be surprised if that lad crafted it"
"Now that I think about it, the first time I saw 'im craft something it was interesting to say the least, a small little thing like that used as a weapon, that takes patience to do"
"Speaking of, why did you let him use the forge the first time you met?" Stoick asks curious.
"I'm not sure on how to explain it, bit I guess it's somethin' about 'im, I felt like I could trust the lad with it even though I've never met 'im" Gobber explained the best he could.
"He does have something about him, another thing I should ask, what do you think about him and Astrid?" Gobber looked at Stoick confused.
"What ya mean?"
"I mean what do you think about the whole thing between him and her, my nephew thinks they're a thing, what do you think?"
"I think, and I mean no disrespect, but that lad is an idiot, if he would use his head he would know that it wouldn't be possible for those two to be a thing"
"Why do you say that?"
"Stoick, you know just as much as I do, that lad, Draco isnt one to follow laws or rules, 'e doesn't like vikings and 'e has a wife, at least as we know of, and even if 'e didn't have any of that, he's an outsider with no family name, 'e doesn't have anythin' to offer for her hand, yes 'e could make her a gift or sword or axe, whatever 'e decides but without a name it just won't be possible"
"What if I took him under my name?" Gobber's head snapped so quick he could've twisted his head off.
"What ya mean, ya plan to make 'im a Haddock?"
"It's not impossible but it's just a thought"
"Stoick, I wouldn't know where to begin with that but all I 'ave to say is that I hope you know what you're doing, I'm going to hit the sack, see ya tomorrow" Gobber takes one bigger swig of mead then left the table living the hall leaving Stoick by himself.
'It wouldn't be impossible' he repeated in his head.